the "today" show student media hall of fame. >> it's on fire. >> what did you learn? >> the economy is improving. i learned parade has 88 million subscribers and i listened to eric smith on the way in. >> thanks to you all and for the morning joe team great work this week as every week. you guys ar maizing. thank you so much. all right. it's way too early. mark halperin, what time is it? >> stay tuned for "chuck today and the daily rundown." a better than expected jobs report just days before the country decides who will be the next president. 171,000 jobs added in the month of october and revised reports add another 84,000. the initial reaction is positive. does it move any votes? 88 hours in ohio. that is what the next few days will feel like. president obama and governor romney are in the buckeye state

as if the whole race may depend on it. guess what? it probably does. we'll go live to the site of the president's event this morning near columbus. there are more than just two guys running for office. house republicans could actually pick up a few seats on tuesday. we'll talk to the gop's man in charge of holding on to the house and the guy who predicted this could happen more than two years ago. november 2, 2012. this is the daily rundown. i'm chuck todd. let's get to my first read of the morning. four days after one of the worst storms ever to hit the country residents are reeling from sandy's impact. according to an early estimate from ploody's analytic the damage will approach $50 billion including property damage and loss of economic aft ty. more than 3.5 home owners and businesses are facing a day without power.

the good news the number keeps coming down but there are still millions without power and then new york, staten island where at least 90 people were killed. the situation is particularly grim and residents are still cold, hungry, without power and supplies. they now feel a profound sense of loss and are getting increasingly angry. >> every person on this block lost everything. >> we want people to know we are hurting down here and we need help. >> i think we are not getting the attention because we are a working class neighborhood and kind of just like fend for yourself kind of thing. >> there it is. you heard that feeling there that those folks have right now. this is a recovery mission. janet napolitano along with fema's deputy administrator will arrive on staten island later today. three navy war ships are anchored off the northeast coast to help with the relief effort now. utility vehicles have been brought in on utility planes from the west coast to give

power companies some help and some 50,000 utility workers are being deployed from across the country. new jersey secretary of state meanwhile announced thursday that military trucks are being deployed to operate as polling places on election day in communities that remain without power. amtrak will offer limited service between new york city and boston today. the new york city subway system is slowly coming back to life. the m-train, which links queens to manhattan actually started running. manhattan remains in the dark. with little mass transit folks are turning to their cars and you know what that means. lots of gas lines. they extend for miles. according to the most recent report from triple-a, of the gas stations it monitors roughly 60% of stations in new jersey and 70% on long island were closed thursday. both of new jersey's senators are now asking president obama for emergency fuel supplies.

we do have a presidential campaign to cover. we are in the last 72, 96 hours if you will. the final chapter of the 2012 campaign is now begun and it all comes down, it apparently changed to ohio which president obama and governor romney, ready for this, are going to visit six separate times in the last four days of the break. today is the first day. president obama spends the entire day in ohio. he's got stops in springfield, lima, hilliard in franklin county which has voted for democrats in the last three elections but his other two stops are in counties which voted for mccain in 2008. after a morning rally in wisconsin romney is also in ohio today. in aetna and westchester both counties that voted republican the last three elections. you look at the president's campaign schedule and it makes the buckeye state look like an airline hub for airforce one with ohio stops every day through the election. colorado, swing through florida, got to change planes in ohio.

mitt romney not only focused on ohio but is trying to broaden the battleground map. what is he up to here with this decision to campaign in pennsylvania on sunday? he's also got new hampshire on his list twice not once. the smallest swing state. they think it is edging their direction but more importantly for their math the 270 they don't get there with florida, virginia, ohio. they get there with florida, virginia, ohio, and one small state in this case new hampshire. meanwhile vice president joe biden makes two stops in wisconsin. congressman paul ryan begins his day in colorado before flying back to the midwest for a rally in cedar falls, iowa. then he joins romney in westchester in ohio tonight. then there's former president bill clinton for the fifth player in all of this if you will and look at his schedule today in florida. he goes to lake worth, then ft. myers, then st. petersburg, then tallahassee. he's got five events in total today in florida. and you know the way he talks. talk about a hoarse voice by the

end of the day it will be interesting to see where his voice is by 8:00 tonight. in the frenetic final days both candidates are giving positive pitches and warnings as to what will happen if the other guy is voted in. and bolder last night the president argued for another four years. >> after four years as president, you know me by now. you know me. you may not agree with every decision that i've made. you may be frustrated at the pace change. i always remind people that when we did the auto bail out only 10% of the country approved of it. >> and then the president argued romney is a candidate who can't be trusted. >> governor romney has been using all this formidible talent as a salesman to dress up. the very same positives that failed our country so badly. >> you know, romney in virginia beach last night. he's calling himself the agent

of change. >> this is no time for small measures. this is time for real change and when i am elected president on day one we'll bring real change to america. >> and romney is sharpening his criticism of the president on the biggest issue, the economy. >> the president were to be re-elected you're going to see high levels of unemployment continue and stalled wage growth. if any wage growth at all just like we've seen over the last four years. >> as the hurricane sandy recovery effort continues we're also sure to take time to mention the storm victims in their remarks thursday. >> there are no democrats or republicans during a storm. there are just fellow americans. >> if you have a few extra dollars send them along to the american red cross or to the salvation army or to other relief organizations and it can make the difference in the lives

of our fellow citizens. >> when he talked about sandy romney was interrupted by a protester. >> what about what caused this monster storm? >> usa! usa! >> and one of the men at the center of the sandy response is new york city mayor bloomberg and guess what? he also wanted to talk about climate change and he suggested it may have been responsible for the storm and because of that issue one of the reasons he says is why he is endorsing president obama with a late endorsement thursday. he is saying though he found the past four years to be, quote, disappointing, the storm's devastation brought the stakes of tuesday's election, he says, into sharp relief. he then tweeted this, quote. this november vote for a president who will lead on climate change. back to the october jobs status

these reports have become the focal point since president obama took office and an important monthly mile marker for judging the state of obama's presidency beyond anything else. there have never been a focus on jobs numbers in a presidency like this one but let's take a look at where we are and where we've been. the newest jobs report shows the unemployment rate at 7.9%. in february, 2009, the president's first full month in office it was 8.3%. in between it's been a rollercoaster ride ever since. in october, 2009 the unemployment rate reached its high point of 10%. last month its lowest point 7.8%. 17 times the unemployment rate went up. 18 times it went down. 9 times it stayed the same. in terms of actual jobs the president has presided over 28 months of job gains and 17 months of job losses. but there hasn't been a month that saw a net job loss in more than two years. the best month in terms of job gains was may of 2010 when 516,000 jobs were added.

the worst month in terms of job losses was march of 2009 when nearly 800,000 jobs were lost. so let's take a look at the jobs totals since the president's first month in office. 4.62 million jobs lost. when you add in this month and the revisions from august of august and september 4.81 million jobs have been gained. that equals a net total of 190,000 jobs gained over the course of president obama's first term. there you have it. let's get back to the numbers that came out this morning. as we said, it's the jobs report both campaigns will use to try to back up their arguments for and against the economic policies of the last four years. mark zandi is the chief economist for moody's analytics. i know you've already called it a great report. why is it a great report? why do you put it in that category? >> well, maybe i should have said very good. because great i should probably reserve for the really great report. 170,000 jobs, that's good.

very good. we got unemployment ticking up a notch after a big decline last month. and household employment. this is another survey, another estimate of employment. rose again after a big gain last month. that generally leads employment conditions. when you add it all up it feels really good. the other thing i point out is that the job gains are increasingly broad based across a lot of industries particularly construction and this is very important because as the housing market kicks in over the next year or two that's where we're going to get a lot of these jobs. anything construction related. >> before i ask the next question i want to inform viewers. mitt romney just put out his statement on the unemployment report. here is what he said. today's increase in the unemployment rate is a sad reminder that the economy is at a virtual standstill. the jobless rate is higher than it was when president obama took office. there are still 23 million americans struggling to work. on tuesday america will make a choice between stagnation and prosperity for four years. president obama's policies have crushed america's middle class for four years. president obama has told us that

things are getting better and that we're making progress. obviously, he believes it is at a stand still. you look at the last two years. is this economy recovering? how do you describe the recovery after the last say two years? >> it is recovering. you know, if you look through the monthly volatility in the data we're getting about 150,000 jobs per month. so that's okay. in fact, in an economy that was with an unemployment rate of 6% we'd be pretty comfortable with that. but as has been pointed out we have a 7.9% unemployment rate. we need more job growth, stronger job growth to bring the unemployment down closer to that 6% level. so it's good. it's okay. i'll take it. but we need better. >> i guess what -- how do we get the better? i mean, you know, the fact is as i just pointed out this is still a little bit above population, keeping up with population so this would be great if we were

at full employment but we're not. so what is the missing ingredient here? >> here is the good and the bad news, chuck. there's one missing ingredient and that is for the next president and the next congress to nail down some of the fiscal issues, scaling back the cliff, the debt ceiling, laying out a path to fiscal sustainability. the deficit reduction we need in the long run is to stablize the nation's debt load. what we need to do is very clear. that is the good news. the bad news is we have to execute on that. that will be difficult. that's why i think over the next three to six months as we work through these issues the numbers could be softer than we are experiencing now. businesses are going to be very concerned and worried about what is going to happen. >> i want to talk quickly about sandy. you made your estimate i think as the one being quoted the most about $50 billion. what about the impact on the national economy? >> you know, it's going to affect the monthly data so vehicle sales were soft. we already saw that because of the effects of the last few days

of october. but by the end of the year certainly by spring this will all iron out. i don't think bottom line sandy is going to have a big impact on the national economy. it's not a game changer at any time. >> all right. mark zandi of moody's analytics the man we always turn to on these fridays. we're going to keep following these reports. thank you very much. >> thank you. >> still ahead we'll get team obama's take on the brand new jobs report. you'll see that exclusively here first. plus we're live in ohio where the president is expected in about an hour from now. then we'll take a deep dive into some house breaks. in particular michele bachmann went for presidential candidate and tea party star to a congresswoman fighting for her political life. first a look ahead at the schedule today. mitt romney and the president. the president running for the presidency of ohio. mitt romney will also be in ohio today. he's got visits for a couple

other states as well. you're watching the daily rundown only on msnbc. ♪ [ crowd cheering ] ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

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i'd share it with anybody to move this country forward. if you want to break the gridlock vote for leaders whether republicans, democrats, or independents who feel the same way. >> i'll have to reach across the aisle and search for good democrats who love america just like you love america. there are democrats like that. >> we have to work together. these are critical times. >> president obama and governor romney both promising a lot of bipartisanship if they win on tuesday but with dozens of congressional moderates from both parties headed for the exit thanks to retirement and some

expected losses. don't be surprised if the 113th congress is actually even more idiosyncrasy logically polarized than this one was. the chair of the national republican committee chairman sessions joins me now. i give you kudos off the top. you were the lone voice who predicted republicans could gain seats in 2012. let me read you the projection, they believe that the range on house is plus five gop to plus ten dem from charlie cook. their best, they think either between no net change or democrats with a small gain and eight plus dm, two plus republican. it is within the realm of the possible. how did that happen? >> the possible happened because the republicans have not only aimed for and listened to the american people on the job and jobs creation problem but we

have i think effectively sold that we'll deal with the issues exactly as the president has given them. there was $700 billion cut out of medicare. we had to fix that. we fixed that with a plan. we have a job creation bill. it's not just the 20,000 keystone pipeline jobs but millions more that need to be created across this country. we talked about doing the things which will grow our economy, add jobs, make sure that gasoline prices don't increase and we'll do things listening to the american people and working together. >> what's the message on election night if voters of this country re-elect a republican house and a democratic president and democratic senate. that is a -- that is not a crazy scenario. that is right now if you believe all the public polling a fairly reasonable scenario. what is the message the voters are sending? >> i think what will really happen, you remember back in

wisconsin earlier in the year when we were told, hey, get ready. we'll stay up all night for this. >> fair enough. >> waiting for the answer from the wisconsin voter and it happened very quickly. i have been in 47 congressional districts this last month and in all 47 of the congressional districts that i went to the momentum i believe is on the side of the republicans. republicans based upon the american people wanting to do something about this jobs and job creation, about prices that -- prices at the pump. >> but the fact is it is what do you say to this potential split decision? what are voters saying? why is it that we potentially do both? >> i think there won't be a split decision. >> okay. >> i think the decision will be made if mitt romney is that person and i think that is the point. you can't go and elect a bunch of new republicans. maybe it is five or seven. maybe just re-electing the great

net 63 we got last time but it will be a resounding victory for house republicans because we have a plan and we will work with mitt romney and the american people no doubt. >> let me ask you this. give me an example of a republican that if they win you're thinking, wow. republicans are going to gain seats. they're not just going to hold on to the majority and only lose a few seats. they'll gain seats. give me an example of one or two races that may be a little bit of a reach to people but will tell you something on election night. >> well, we have several as you know, chuck, in the northeast. one is brendan doherty running in rhode island. today is probably an even seat in terms of where brandon is versus his opponent but it is a vastly different viewpoint. it is a huge democrat seat. and i think that brendan doherty can win that. go to outside st. louis, east into illinois, and we have jason

plumber. jason plummer is running for a seat that has not had a republican in years. >> jerry costello's seat. >> it sure is. two key states that will tell me early on where we are as a party. our messaging and how we're going to do throughout the night. >> let me ask you about a couple -- a couple seats that, you know, if new hampshire, you're not holding on to those seats is that an indication of this night's not going as well as you thought? that staying in the northeast? >> you know, it is hard to say. that would be an indication to me that then mitt romney would not be doing as well. those are both very competitive, very tight places, directly out of the boston markets they get a lot of massachusetts tv and mitt is not doing well in massachusetts. but i would say that i expect charlie will win those seats. we know they're very close. when you go into other traditional areas or nontraditional areas further

south into coal country, pennsylvania, west virginia, ohio, that will be the count that tells the tale. >> all right. pete sessions chairman of the national republican congressional committee in orlando i think campaigning for folks there. a lot of new seats being contested in the state of florida. it is going to be one of those, lots of swings there. chairman sessions, thanks for coming on. >> thanks. how did wall street react to the new job numbers? the market rundown is next. today's trivia question, when was the last time minnesota voted for a republican in the presidential election? first correct answer gets a follow friday. before we go to break, vice president biden stopped by david letterman to give the top ten reasons to vote early. here are the ones that came up. >> number six, if you vote early you don't have to pay taxes.

>> looking to mingle? find that special someone in the early voting run. >> the number one thing about voting early, ladies and gentlemen. >> honest, don't you want this election over with already?

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we think today is the day that president obama and governor romney will come closest to each other before election day. they'll be about 100 miles apart on the campaign trail in ohio. the president is trying to make up for lost time scheduling three stops in ohio over the next six hours. msnbc's chris jansing is live for us today at the first stop in hilliard, ohio. and, chris, i believe you're an ohio native so -- >> i am. >> if i'm not mistaken. what do you feel, what are you seeing, hearing on the ground from friends, family, contacts, all of those anecdotal things we love to dine out on? >> a pretty good crowd for the

president. there has been some talk in recent days not all of the events on either side have gotten big crowds. they think they'll have a lot going on this weekend and as you have said earlier a lot of the activity here in ohio. in speaking with people since i've gotten here with my family but also spending a couple hours both in obama and romney offices yesterday, three things emerged which are interesting. number one is that in this state where employment is 7% lower than the national average, it is still all about the economy. on the front page of columbus dispatch there is a note that the plans, the honda plant not far from here is going to add 200 new jobs, $170 million investment. only one person i have spoken to even mentioned the storm. it's all about jobs here. second thing was i was curious about the door to door and the phone calls because we know how important the get out the vote is even in an early vote state. and the people who have done this for multiple campaigns were surprised. they found that they are getting

less hang ups, less people saying thanks but no thanks and closing the door and i was talking to jonathan alter and he was in toledo and says the people he talked to saw the same thing. whether that translates to enthusiasm or more people going to the polls, i don't know. and finally, really quickly, they're going to be watching cuyohoga county. not a swing county but marking a victory beat for barack obama. >> how strickland lost in 2010. all margins. his margin in cuyohoga much smaller than they had planned on. chris jansing i know you'll have more coming up. we'll have a special edition of chris's show live from ohio, 10:00 right here on msnbc. all right. stocks getting a boost from the better than expected october jobs report. wall street just opening 33 seconds ago. let's get the market rundown. becky quick is here. not much bad news in this jobs report. >> no. >> hard to find any isn't it? >> if you nit pick you can find a couple things but all in all

this is a really strong report. numbers came in better than expected on just about every count. if you were looking at the number of jobs created it was 171,000. that was better than the 125,000 people had been expecting that economists had been expecting. you also could take a look at the revisions over the last couple months. apparently for august and september the labor department now saying there were an additional 84,000 jobs that were created in those jobs than they had already reported. that is good news on the revisions. the unemployment rate actually ticked a little higher to 7.9% from 7.8%. that is just because there were a lot more people looking for work. it was 578,000 people that came back into the jobs market. that is a really positive sign actually because it means people are feeling a little better about their prospects and thinking maybe they can find a job. we have been waiting for a turn like that to indicate maybe things are starting to turn a corner. up to 7.9% but good news not bad news because it means more people are coming back in. the participation rate ticked up by 0.2% to 63.8% and again that is what we've been waiting to see happening. before the recession we were looking at a participation rate

of 63%. some of the reason that dropped is people have dropped out of the work force but were discouraged. the other part is we have seen people who are getting older and retiring. the one thing i could say if nit picking is the average hourly earnings ticked down by a penny to $23.58 and hours worked unchanged at 34.4 hours a week. all in all a great report. >> no conspiracy theories linked with this one. >> not this time around. 7.9% is actually a little higher than when president obama took office. so republicans can't -- >> that's what you hear. >> yep. >> thank you, becky. up next, taking a deep dive. into something we've seen before. when a former presidential candidate has to run for re-election for their old house seat. michele bachmann. still to come we'll hear from the white house on the just released jobs numbers. they'll stop by here first. the daily rundown will be back in 30 seconds.

something we've seen before. a politician who gains coverage. senator mcgovern lost by a landslide to president nixon and years later mcgovern lost his bid for the presidency. just four years after dropping out of the 2008 presidential rate dennis kucinich lost his

seat during the democratic primary after redistricting put him in a member versus member contest. the biggest one i remembered goes back to 1996 when bob doanan ran for president and was the surprise loser on election night in his old orange county district that everybody thought could not be lost. today we're looking at congresswoman michele bachmann. is it her turn? she is facing a tough re-election challenge less than a year after finishing last in the iowa republican caucus. joining me now luke russert. he just returned from minnesota's sixth district and because we were focused on this because we figured out nobody is spending more money on a re-election to a house race than michele bachmann. >> it really is amazing. for someone who was the tea party darling, the whole star of the movement, started the tea party caucus a year ago, who is a prolific fundraiser finds herself in the fight of her life. take a look. a year ago michele bachmann was a tea party star running for

president of the united states. >> it is so great to be here in iowa this morning. >> reporter: now she is in a tight race to keep her house seat. though she represents minnesota's most republican district one recent poll shows her getting just 50% against wealthy democratic businessman and hotel owner jim graves. he is convinced bachmann's failed presidential run is helping him. >> i definitely think people feel left out here. she hasn't been in the district or on the floor in congress. she just hasn't been representing the people. she hasn't been a voice for the people. >> reporter: a run that didn't sit well with some of her constituents. >> i think it hurt her because she really wasn't doing anything for the voters in her district. >> i think that was a waste of time and she wasn't maybe doing her job and i was paying for that? sure. i do. >> reporter: bachmann admits there's been fallout but remains confident. do you think your presidential run hurt you or helped you in the district? >> oh, i think that it -- i think there's both. i think there's a lot of advantages that came from it and

i'm now applying that to the run this time and all of the polling numbers look very positive and people appreciate the work that i've done for the district so we're all happy. >> reporter: bachmann's fame makes her a prolific fundraiser and she is spending millions on hard hitting ads against her opponent. >> big spending jim graves is no different. >> reporter: she hopes this will turn out her base. >> i think she cares about minnesota and what is going on here. >> reporter: and be enough to overcome what could be a vote for change. >> she's probably been in, lining up to give somebody else a chance. >> chuck, i spoke to the graves campaign and they acknowledge they face an uphill battle to unseat michele bachmann. she is getting about 50% in the polls. he is within the margin of error in his own polling. the star trib has a little wider than that. what he needs is folks that vote romney, vote for klobuchar, and vote for jim graves. talking to a lot of republicans in minnesota who tend to be more moderate than the ones we see on

the national stage there is this sort of sense of being fed up with michele bachmann. however, there is a strong evangelical pull in that district. gay marriage is on the ballot. that might be enough to push her ahead as well as the redistricting. she'll probably sneak through but, still, a very -- >> we'll see. >> she spent more i think on that than the presidential race. we'll bring in the rest of our friday super panel. republican strategist and president of new frontier strategy, and of course luke sticking around. up in new york melissa harris perry host of msnbc's "melissa harris-perry." i'm sorry. i thought i'd be in new york today. >> yes. >> all of our travel schedules have been messed around a little bit. i want to focus quickly on michele bachmann. i go back with these memories of bob thorn you know when he ran for president. and on election night at the time an unknown hispanic woman by the name of loretta sanchez shocked him. turned out orange county was slipping away.

he got punished for not being in the district, too much of a national figure. this happens when you try to be a national star and look like you're not tending to the home front. >> it does and it could. the district and redistricting got about a plus four republican benefit so a slightly improved district for michele. she has a history as luke said of running tight races. she has a few scares where she won by three or four points. that is probably the likely outcome here. your point is valid. >> i want to talk to you and i want you to both hit on this point. melissa, i just had sessions, the fact is you talk to the strategists on both sides and one thing everybody is sure of, with the presidency, the battle to control the senate controls the house. republicans are going to get re-elected to control the house. what is the message voters are sending if they re-elect a democratic president and senate and republican house? >> i think part of it is just as you were leading in with michele bachmann. the fact is voters collectively aren't sending a message by

dividing governments this way. it's really sort of the odd thing that happens as a result of the way that we have ballots counted right? it is because of the nature of the electoral college which means we're going to be about at a 50/50 split for the u.s. presidency in terms of the poplar vote but one of the candidates may sort of do much better in the electoral college even though we're about even in terms of the popular vote and each of these battles for the congress are so very localized. as you point out right there in minnesota you might end up with what is a split ticket but not because there's some great partisan emotion about it. >> sure. >> but rather just because it is about each candidate. >> ruth, this is sort of to me what is going to be the challenge for whoever wins the presidency. >> yes. you'll have the losing side feeling the grief, feeling as if wait a minute we're, you know, just because you don't -- you represent 50.1% doesn't mean you have to -- you can't represent

the rest. i think governing will be a huge challenge. >> governing is going to be a huge challenge even if the senate remains democratic there is still the challenge of the filibuster in the senate. i suspect we'll have a big argument over filibuster reform and governing is going to be an immediate challenge because of the fiscal cliff. and the closeness of the divide either will go to just more and more of this divisiveness or it may finally convince people we need to get along. >> but the fact is, the fact we're talking about plus five or six in the u.s. house with the huge change in the last month in american politics, we could still have a pathway, i think, viable pathway and i think romney will win next week and i think will bring pragmatic leadership and tone will matter and i suspect he'll work with the republicans or democrats trying to get things done. >> speaking of the path --

you're looking at live pictures. bill clinton in lakewood, florida. the first of i believe he has five events in four cities. he's sort of the fifth guy in this game of campaigning all around the country today. take a listen a little bit. then we'll go to break. >> senator richard luger. their most important authority on foreign affairs. and he attacked libya for cooperating with president obama on the nation's security. he said, you know, his happiest day was when he could impose his opinion on someone else and he wanted to bring more partisanship to washington. and essentially what president obama is saying, look at me. i'm always going to work with the republicans. i worked with governor christie in new jersey on sandy. i tried to work with them on a budget. i tried to work with them on health care. and what they say is, we'll work with the democrats if you put us

in charge. now that's the message. you have to decide whether you think that's a good message. i mean, i was watching this -- this storm has been tough on me being out on the road. i was in ohio and wisconsin yesterday. i'll be in florida today, north carolina, and virginia tomorrow. but my neighbors are all without power. my daughter and son-in-law's apartment building was vacated in new york. there are lots of new yorkers who are worried about when if ever they'll get back in their homes and they're supposed to actually vote in a presidential election in just a few days? in some places we can't stand one up in new york, new jersey, and connecticut. so this isn't very -- this is a very difficult time. i'm just sick of all this big

money, secret money, constant negative campaigning. look, it may be good politics. maybe because people are anxiety ridden. but i have a few very simple things i want to tell you. number one, i hear all these people say oh, i was so enthusiastic four years ago. i so much hoped for change. and i'm disappointed and this that and the other thing. let me tell you something. i may be the only person in america but i am far more enthusiastic about president obama this time than i was four years ago. a great life. but she has some dental issues she's not happy about. so i introduced jill to crest pro-health for life. selected for people over 50. pro-health for life is a toothpaste that defends against tender, inflamed gums, sensitivity and weak enamel. conditions people over 50 experience.

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wall street is embracing those new jobs numbers. 171,000 jobs added in october. well above estimates. joining me now is the chairman of the president's council of economic advisers. this is being viewed through the prism of the presidential

campaign. let me ask you. what is the best news that you believe is inside this report and what is the most troubling news you see inside this report? >> thanks, chuck. the only hat i have is the economist hat. >> fair enough. >> you know, i think today's report and other indicators coming in tell us that the economy is gradually healing. we add in 171,000 jobs, 184,000 in the private sector which is the most in eight months. we need to build on this progress. we need to keep at this so that everyone who wants to find a job can find one. that's why the president has proposed the middle class tax cuts for example being ek tended. >> these numbers feel like only good numbers if you believe this is the new -- that 7.8, 7.9, 8% unemployment is the new normal. what do you do to get it from

170,000 to 400,000 for a year, a six-month period, which would actually bring down the unemployment rate to real, full employment? >> well, the unemployment rate is coming down and we want to build on that progress. the president proposed legislation to help families refinance their homes and we've taken administrative steps to make it easier for families to refinance and take advantage of the historically low interest rates. that is helping the housing market to stablize. we're seeing an increase in construction activity for the first time in a while. we saw in these number is a rise in construction and employment. that is an example. we'll stay at this. this is the president's objective. he has proposals to help state and local governments keep more teachers on the job and we have a lot of job losses of teachers for example. there are specific things that congress can do to help create more jobs and to continue to build on the progress we've seen over the last three and a half years. >> one piece of troubling news in here was the issue of the

hourly wage number wen down not up. >> in recoveries, wages tend to lag behind. we want to continue building on this progress to strengthen family income and job growth. that will help raise wages and income and extending the middle class tax cuts will help middle class families maintain higher after tax income. >> all right. alan kruger the chairman of the council of economic advisers. thanks for coming on this morning. >> thank you. >> we'll see you next month as well. just because the election happens doesn't mean we won't. thank you. trivia time we asked what is the last time minnesota voted for a republican in the presidential election. the answer 1972. richard nixon's landslide second election. before that you go back to 1956. giving the white house soup of the day, not many there to eat

it, roasted vegetable. this is the time of year when i care more about soup because i do eat soup myself almost every day. [ female announcer ] want to spend less and retire with more?

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america is a great place because there's a fantastic fusion of individual forces.

individualism and community. when you look at communities where there's been a natural disaster or where there's been a terrible terrorist attack, what you see is americans running towards each other. not running away. so there's a kind of amazing fusion between individuality and yet a commitment to community. and i don't think there's anywhere on the earth quite like it. >> let's bring back the panel. melissa, you're in the -- i don't want you to get lost in this. let me ask you, do you think there's been a standing impact on the presidential race? >> i mean, i think we can't be completely sure yet because a lot of it is going to depend on whether the impacted states see a decline in turnover over what happened in 2008 and whether or not we can determine whether or not that decline and turnout as a result of sandy. but what i will say is that the moment that the president spent actually managing this crisis, sort of regardless of what

happens in the context of the election, i think our high point for it is the presidency. >> the bloomberg endorsement, phil musser, i know you're saying that new york city mayor and all this stuff, but the message, that sort of undercots the romney message, doesn't it? >> no. i respect mayor bloomberg. at the end of the day, it doesn't matter, his endorsement, in swing states where this is going to be decided. bottom line, no one in iowa is going to vote base odd what bloomberg says about climate change. >> we look at this final schedule and you get the sense that both campaigns are telling us little things. if it's a dead even race, i think both sides think secretly, romney carries florida. i think new hampshire feels as if it's ever so slightly trending towards him. colorado is another one that feels as if perhaps it is trending slightly republican. and look, that gets him to 248.

there's a wildcard here in pennsylvania. the president has had this structurally and it seems as if that's been sitting out there. wisconsin is a state that is -- that is an early -- it is a same day registration voter, so that makes it difficult. then you've got virginia and ohio. and i'm going to throw pennsylvania back here because pennsylvania is a state where they said romney is going in there. position of strength or weakness? >> i'd go for weakness. i think not quite hail mary, but somewhere in that neighborhood. >> and i'll let you jump in on pennsylvania. i want to show you why pen opinion might matter to them. if you don't believe ohio works for romney, and you take out -- if you give them -- if he gets pennsylvania and ohio, he doesn't need virginia and it's at 277. but if you take pennsylvania away, that's the way to prevent that.

>> every year from republicans, philadelphia, pittsburgh, alabama and in between, you turn out pittsburgh, you turn out philly, democrats have 1.1 million advantage in registration. >> why is sunday better spent in pennsylvania and not ohio? >> president is in wisconsin. romney will be in pennsylvania. we're going to win huge out west. he's going to go in and target independents who are breaking remarkably to the romney campaign. it's a good use of time. tom corbitt thinks we can do it. so do i. >> jennifer horn at the patch.com this morning put up a good piece about how romney is going to win by three in new hampshire. >> allen mcgillis is kind of like the new ben smith. >> look at that. >> and springsteen tonight. >> the pepco guys out in the rain tuesday night putting the poles back up outside my house. we got power back. thank you, pepco. >> yeah. mhc show has a special on women in this election on saturday night at 6:00.

>> all right. speaking of specials, tonight, a benefit concert for victims of hurricane sandy. watch it tonight here at 8:00 eastern. and tomorrow at 9:00, i will have an election special of the daily run down right here on prime time on msnbc. we'll be out in rockefeller in a plaza. bye-bye. who sent it to cindy, who wondered why her soup wasn't quite the same. the recipe's not the recipe... ohhh. [ female announcer ] ...without swanson. the broth cooks trust most when making soup. mmmm! [ female announcer ] the secret is swanson. that's a good thing, but it doesn't cover everything. only about 80% of your part b medical expenses. the rest is up to you. so consider an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. like all standardized medicare supplement plans,

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